A typical wireless device (e.g., a mobile phone) periodically monitors the signal quality of the cell by which it is currently being served, as well as the signal qualities of neighboring cells. If the wireless device detects a neighboring cell having a stronger signal than the cell by which it is currently being served, the wireless device will initiate a switch to the neighboring cell. If the current cell and the neighboring cell are co-located (e.g., controlled by the same mobile switching center), then it is relatively simple to make the switch. However, if the current cell and the neighboring cell are not co-located, then registration loss and subsequent gaps in tracking among communities of user devices may occur unnoticed by network management and field services technicians. These registration losses and gaps are considered “silent” because they are typically viewed as isolated instances (rather than indications of larger, persistent problems) and thus are not reported.
Registration loss and silent gaps in tracking may be the result of a failure of a network service component which has failed to trigger an alarm. Registration loss and/or gaps could also be caused by failed wireless device location updates, the assignment of channels that are already serving other wireless devices, failed set asynchronous balanced mode (SABM) signals to initiate radio connections, failed authentication of a wireless device, or failed unnumbered acknowledge (UA) messages. If the resulting registration losses and/or gaps are not reported, the failures may persist for some time, requiring wireless device users to frequently re-register and/or to make new calls.